1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of games, and more particularly, in the field of games of the type that uses a unitary ball catching and throwing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pelota is the generic name for a group of ball games originally developed by the Basques. Some of these games exploit the mechanical advantage gained by throwing a ball from a basket. The game in which this mechanical advantage has been carried to an extreme is known, in this country, as "jai alai". The jai alai game is played by using a "chistera". This chistera is a heavy elongated wicker basket with a curved drooping belly. The basket is usually strapped to the hand and wrist of a player. The jai alai court is normally 90 yards long having a front wall, back wall and one side wall. A small, hard and rather heavy ball is used. The drooping belly portion of the basket is used to catch a ball rebounding from either the front wall or side wall. Once the ball is caught in the drooping belly and positioned, the basket is used to hurl the ball from that position toward the front wall. It requires years of training to develop the skill necessary to play jai alai because it is extremely difficult to catch a ball in the belly of a basket. It is reported that the ball achieves speeds of approximately 140 miles per hour during play of the game. It is equally difficult to learn how to hurl the ball from the basket and especially to hurl the ball where it can achieve speeds of about 140 miles an hour.
Because the game of jai alai is played in only about four states in the United States, because the game is so difficult to learn to play, and because the courts are so large and expensive to build, jai alai has not become a major or, as a matter of fact, a minor participant sport in the United States. However, there have been attempts to replicate or simulate some of the aspects of a modified jai alai game for the general public. One of these attempts was to make a smaller size and lighter weight chistera from plastic. The belley portion was provided with a resilient layer of padding to assist in catching the ball. This device is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,508 and suggests that it is to be used to play "jai alai" on a conventional handball or racquetball court. However, the patent appears to be silient as to the type of ball to be used. Therefore, the device obviously was not tuned to a player, a court or a ball. This prior art also obviously does not teach a game.
In an old U.S. Pat. No. 1,022,186 a plurality of throwing devices are shown that are adapted to throw balls such as baseballs, tennis balls, badminton balls or birdies (maybe badminton was played with a ball in 1912) cricket balls and the like. In this device a pair of curved edges are provided to throw the projectiles mentioned. We have not been able to find either of these devices in the marketplace or in old catalogs and, therefore, must assume that they did not enjoy any commercial success.
In our search for prior art devices, we did find one toy, that was supposed to catch balls, manufactured by Cosom Division of Schaper Manufacturing Company and was possibly sold under the trademark name of Safe-T-Play. This device comprised a circular shape with a hollow handle made from a soft resilient plastic material. A side elevation view of this device with the ball shown in phantom is depicted in the drawings and labeled as "PRIOR ART". This device was found very awkward and clumsy to use and did not catch balls well. It also did not throw the balls well because its curvature was almost that of a circle.
Several years ago, a child's toy called "Trac Ball" was introduced into the marketplace. This Trac Ball toy seems to be similar to a toy described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,026. The toy utilizes a plastic basket with a handle for throwing and catching a light weight blow molded hollow sphere having a plurality of external ridges. The sphere or ball being made from such light weight material as expanded polystyrene. This patent teaches that serrated tracks in the basket impart spin to the ridged ball but if a smooth ball is used no spin can be imparted by the serrated tracks when the ball is thrown. From the commercially available toy described by this United States Patent, it was determined that a pleasurable or challenging court-type ball game could not be played. In fact with the toy basket and ball provided, no court game could be played. Further, the patent covering this toy does not suggest that a court game could be played.
As any good golfer knows, as any good tennis player knows, as any good baseball player knows, there must be a good impedance match (as will be explained more fully hereinafter) between a golf club and a golf ball, a tennis racquet and a tennis ball, or a baseball and a baseball bat so that when hitting the ball properly a feeling of pleasure exists. In fact, this feeling is best described as kinesthetic pleasure. Concomitantly, it is a thrilling sensation to hit a ball in the "sweet spot" with a golf club, tennis racquet, baseball bat and the like; somehow this makes humans happy. Conversely, when trying to hit a baseball with a tennis racquet or a tennis ball with a badminton racquet there is no pleasure imparted to the player since the feeling is all wrong. Certainly, there is no kinesthetic pleasure experienced by the player.
It has been ascertained that in this vast area of prior art games, and in particular court-type games, i.e., tennis, racquetball, squash and the like that the racquet, the ball and the court are all tuned or impedance matched to the player so that a pleasurable game is experienced. These games were not scientifically designed but evolved over many, many years. In fact, there is a large body of prior art in the U.S. Patent Office regarding just the evolutionary development of tennis racquets and tennis balls.
We modified several "Trac Ball" baskets to make them stronger and tried using them with a tennis ball to play a game in a racquetball court. Almost no pleasure was derived from this attempted game because the player, the basket, the ball and the court were not tuned; there were simply impedance mismatches. Up until now, none of the attempts to simulate, duplicate, replicate or approximate a court style jai alai game have been well thought out wherein the relationship between the ball catching and throwing device and the ball were scientifically designed. In fact, the basket whose shape and function are so critical, has apparently received little or no attention.
Based upon our attempt to use the "Trac Ball" baskets in a racquetball court, it was recognized that to provide a playable game it would be necessary to tune or impedance match the various components of the game.